Survived July

July beat down with viscious beams and even tropical-storm winds and rain, but the garden made through the month, despite serious neglect on the part of the gardener.

This morning I went to do an hour's worth of straightening up -- an hour is my limit these days -- and I was able to get quite a bit done. Feeling less romantically inclined toward the tomatoes (since many have stopped producing and are not at their peak of health here in the hottest, muggiest days), I pulled four up and added them to the compost heap. On my next visit, I'll add a nice thick layer of mushroom compost to their bed and start planning some winter vegetables that might replace them come September or October. The weeds were terrible throughout the garden; I got perhaps half of them. I should have mulched right away where I pulled them up to avoid having to do it all over again next week, but that did not happen. I transplanted the giant wormwood that had obscured an 2-foot swath of path. And I watered what needed to be watered.

When the sun began to peek out from over the trees, it was time for me to go. I left plenty undone, plenty to do some other time.